Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature fallout from last week’s New Year’s Evil special.
John Cena says he will likely miss WrestleMania 38 in April.
Cena appeared on The Ellen Show this week to promote The Peacemaker on HBO Max, and was asked about his WWE future, and if he will be at WrestleMania 38 on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3 in Texas.
“WrestleMania is usually in the cusp of late March, early April. I don’t know if I’m going to make it this year,” Cena said. “And that’s a good conundrum to have because there’s a lot of good opportunity coming up, which I would love to take and if all those things line up, I don’t know if I’ll be able to make WrestleMania.”
John Cena continued and said he is far from done with the squared circle.
“But I will tell you and everybody watching, I’m not done with WWE by a long shot,” he said. “That’s my home, I love it. I was able to go back during the summer for a few months and entertain audiences when they welcomed audiences back to arenas, so I’ve far from had my last performance.”
Cena, who turns 45 on April 23, has not worked a program since losing to WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at SummerSlam in late August. He returned on September 10 for a dark main event at the SmackDown at Madison Square Garden, teaming with The Mysterios for a six-man win over The Bloodline, but he has been away since then.
You can see footage from his Ellen interview below:
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE has reportedly made changes to the creative team setup in regards to NXT 2.0. According to PWInsider.com, things will be getting switched around internally with the third brand continuing to evolve. These alterations come following the recent releases.
WWE cut several long-term employees during the latest batch of cuts. The focus was more behind the scenes than in-ring talent, although Samoa Joe was released as well. The company let go of Gabe Sapolsky, William Regal, and Road Dogg during the re-shuffle.
Moving forward, the WWE NXT creative team will not operate independently, as it has done in the past. Previously, Paul Levesque oversaw things with his own team, which was separate from everything else in WWE. However, that is no longer the case.
Instead, the team will now work under Bruce Prichard and Christine Lubrano. Decisions will be reported to them, with WWE looking to streamline the operation to be consistent with how the Raw and SmackDown creative departments work.
Johnny Russo (no relation to Vince Russo) will be heading up WWE NXT’s writing team, working under Prichard and Lubrano. He originally joined WWE in the fall of 2011, and has been involved with the main roster from 2015-2018. However, he does also have experience with NXT, working within the creative department for the black and gold brand since August 2019.
Russo has also been working as the lead writer for the show since July 2020 and therefore knows how things work. Elsewhere on the creative team, Dewey Foley, who is the son of Hall Of Famer, Mick Foley, will remain on the team. He has been working on the 205 Live product as well.
Meanwhile, Anthony Golden Jr. will also still be on the NT creative team. He joined WWE in March 2020 and has a background in theatre, while he also boasts a Master’s in Film and Television production.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan is under fire for a now-deleted Facebook comment he made this week.
Comedian Josh Pray posted a Facebook video on the death of actor/comedian Bob Saget this week, and in the comments section one viewer speculated on Saget’s death being related to the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Wellll many directions we can go with this, but I will take jab for $500 Alex,” the user wrote.
Hogan’s official Facebook page then responded to that user, and indicated that he believes the deaths of Saget, actor Sidney Poitier, and actress Betty White were related to the vaccine.
“100% Betty and Sidney were also jabed their dropping like flies but they’ll never say it,” Hogan wrote.
According to NoDQ.com, Hulk Hogan later edited the Facebook post, although the comment could still be seen by clicking the edited link next to the comment. Hogan later deleted the comment altogether.
While the cause of death for both Bob Saget and Sidney Portier are currently unknown, it should be noted that Betty White suffered a stroke six days prior to her death at the age of 99, and no evidence exists that suggests White’s stroke was caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.
Hulk Hogan’s comments serve as another setback for the wrestling legend as he looks to rebuild his reputation following a scandal several years ago where he was caught on tape making several racist remarks. Hogan was ostracized from WWE following his comments but ultimately returned to the promotion in 2018. He has made several appearances for WWE since to mixed responses, and Hogan was notably booed while serving as co-host of WrestleMania 37 with Titus O’Neal last year.
You can see Hulk Hogan’s now-deleted comments, as well as several fan tweets reacting to Hogan’s comments, below.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
A quick tweet and delete, something The Nature Boy is becoming known for nowadays.
Ric Flair had quite the year in 2021. He started it as a WWE Superstar, even making his return to TV and becoming an active part of what was a pretty odd and eventually scrapped angle. His latest stint with WWE came to an end after he was granted his release. While there doesn’t appear to be bad blood between the two parties for the most part, Flair refuses to let one thing go.
That one thing is WWE’s use of the mantra, The Man. Or, more accurately, Becky Lynch’s use of it. Lynch has been calling herself The Man for a while. However, The Nature Boy claims he owns it, at least in the wrestling world. Flair’s claim stems from when he would say “to be the man, you gotta beat the man” during his heyday.
The situation appears to have become even more complicated rather than get resolved. There has been talk since the turn of the year that WWE has abandoned the trademark. There are also conflicting reports that WWE has simply decided to not have Lynch refer to herself as The Man anymore. Either way, Flair seems to believe he is owed an apology, not to mention a hefty chunk of change for his troubles.
Naitch published a tweet demanding apologies from Lynch and WWE, but then quickly deleted it which has become customary for the 16-time World Champion. “I’ll take 2 apologies- one from Big Time Becks & one from WWE,” Flair tweeted, adding that he’ll also take 20 million. Assuming he means dollars there, and also assuming he believes WWE has made $20 million by having Lynch refer to herself as The Man for part of her career.
Whether WWE has admitted the trademark belongs to Flair or not, it’s hard to imagine a world where The Nature Boy receives $20 million for Lynch’s use of it. This appears to be more about a problem he has with Lynch as opposed to WWE referring to her as The Man. This isn’t the first time Naitch has tweeted something about her and then immediately thought better of it. Perhaps the Hall of Famer is still hung up on the title exchange between Lynch and his daughter Charlotte last year.
Source: TheSportster
Former Impact and NXT star Taya Valkyrie (Franky Monet) says she’s interested in working at AEW and thinks she deserves a spot in the Owen Hart tournament.
AEW’s inaugural Owen Hart Cup tournaments are set to kick off in a few months, and some wrestlers are starting to lobby for places … including former Impact and NXT star Taya Valkyrie (Franky Monet).
During a recent East Coast Autograph Auctions appearance, Valkyrie implied that she would jump at the opportunity to join AEW if offered.
“Of course, I would go to AEW. I mean, they are doing something different,” she said. “A lot of my peers and my best friends, my brothers Fenix and Pentagon are over there. So why not? Let’s wait and see what happens,” Taya teased.
La Wera Loca then commented on the possibility of her participating in the Owen Cup, saying that she deserves a spot as she shares a nationality with the man to whom the tournament is dedicated.
“I mean, as a Canadian, I think that I should definitely be in the Owen tournament,” Taya said. “I was trying to think what Canadian girls are part of AEW. I want to say Allie is probably the only one? So I think there needs to be more Canadians in that scenario. So, I would absolutely love to.”
AEW’s partnership with The Owen Hart Foundation was announced last September. Both the men’s and women’s Owen Hart Cup tournaments will be taking place in May 2022 with each final happening at this year’s Double Or Nothing. No competitors have been announced, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted with new developments.
Taya Valkyrie signed with WWE in February of last year and was soon repackaged as Franky Monet. She and several of her now-former co-workers were released by WWE on Thursday, November 4 allegedly due to budget cuts necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic (although as we reported, WWE generated $256 Million in revenue in that quarter).
Source: TheSportster
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA with more build for the upcoming Royal Rumble event.
Former WWE Superstar Charlie Haas made his Impact Wrestling debut at Sunday night’s tapings in Dallas, TX, where he confronted Josh Alexander.
Later in the tapings, Haas wrestled Alexander and that led to a storyline with several former ROH wrestlers coming out to attack both Haas and Alexander.
It’s unclear what exactly happened but Haas was reportedly hurt during the brawl, and subsequently stretchered out of the building.
According to WrestlingNews.Co, Tommy Dreamer confirmed to the fans in attendance that Haas was legitimately hurt.
Earlier during the tapings, Alexander turned down Haas’ challenge, stating that he was focused on the IMPACT World Championship. This led to Haas attacking Alexander, setting up the match for the main event of the show.
Haas, the current the SWE Heavyweight Champion, has held the WWE Tag Team titles on three separate occasions.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration have been pulled from Saturday’s Impact Wrestling Hard To Kill pay-per-view.
Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee were scheduled to defend their titles against The Influence’s Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood at Saturday’s pay-per-view, but Impact announced today that they are self-isolating after exposure to COVID-19.
The IInspiration informed Impact officials that they were in close contact with an individual who shortly thereafter tested positive for COVID-19, and out of an abundance of caution and with the health of others in mind, they have decided to self-isolate over the weekend instead of working Hard To Kill.
Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore noted in a press release, “Impact’s COVID protocols are in place to keep our talent roster, staff and fans safe.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
PRE-SHOW
Jake Something def. Madman Fulton
PRE-SHOW
Mike Bailey def. Chris Bey, Ace Austin & Laredo Kid in a Fatal 4-Way Match
KNOCKOUTS ULTIMATE X
Tasha Steelz defeated Chelsea Green, Lady Frost, Rosemary, Alisha Edwards, & Impact Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace
Winner receives a future title shot.
IMPACT X DIVISION TITLE MATCH
Trey Miguel (c) defeated Steve Maclin
Maclin can no longer challenge for the title as long as Miguel is champion.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH
Jonathan Gresham (c) defeated Chris Sabin
Josh Alexander defeated Jonah
HARDCORE WAR
Heath, Rhino, Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann and Willie Mack defeated Violence By Design (Eric Young, Deaner, Joe Doering) and Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson)
Matt Taven, Vincent, Mike Bennett, & PCO accompanied by Maria Kanellis made their presence known following the hardcore war match between Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath and Rhino vs. The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) and Violent By Design (Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering). They first focused their attack on Heath and Rhino but as Willie Mack and Rich Swann attempted to help, they were also beat down.
All five of the ROH stars then posed in the ring in celebration as the commentary team suggested that it was an ROH invasion.
– Backstage, Scott D’Amore says he has just found about what just happened like everyone else. Scott says it’s about time he calls Baltimore to find out.
TRIPLE THREAT FOR THE IMPACT WORLD TITLE
Moose (c) defeated Matt Cardona & W. Morrissey
TEXAS DEATH MATCH FOR THE KNOCKOUTS TITLE
Mickie James (c) defeated Deonna Purrazzo
